If you have a conviction, whether it’s for a motoring offence or something else, then you might think it’s impossible to get work and find affordable insurance. This isn’t necessarily true however.
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If you have a conviction, whether it’s for a motoring offence or something else, then you might think it’s impossible to get work and find affordable insurance. This isn’t necessarily true however.

It’s certainly true that some employers and insurers might choose not to deal with you at all if you have a conviction but there are still options out there.

Below are some of the important things to be aware of.

Do I need to declare my conviction to employers?

One of the most important things to be aware of when you have a conviction is whether you need to declare it or not. Whether you need to declare your conviction to employers will depend on whether it’s spent or unspent.

For more serious convictions that carry a prison sentence of 2 and a half years or longer then the conviction will remain unspent indefinitely. For convictions that come with a fine or community service then they’ll be spent after 5 years. For prison sentences of 6 months or less, the conviction will be spent after 7 years. For convictions with a 6 months to 2 and a half years prison sentence, they’ll be spent after 10 years.

Working as a freelance van driver

The alternative to finding employment as a van driver is to set up as a freelancer. The good thing about working freelance is that you won’t have the issue of having to declare your conviction to employers. However it’s important to note that you’ll still need to declare any unspent convictions to insurance providers. The same rules mentioned above apply.

Getting insurance at an affordable price

If you’re looking for convicted driver’s insurance then the best way to go about it is by going to a specialist provider. Many mainstream insurance providers don’t deal with drivers who have a conviction; or if they do they only offer policies at drastically increased prices. The reason for this is simply because convicted drivers are statistically more likely to make a claim.

The good news is that there are specialist providers of van insurance for convicted drivers who deal with each person on a case-by-case basis. Although the price you can expect to pay for your van insurance will still be higher than it would if you didn’t have a conviction, you will find that specialist providers offer much more reasonable prices that most people can afford.

If you work as a courier, whether you work for a company or freelance, you’ll want to take every step you can to save money. This means getting fuel at the best price you can as well as taking any measures possible to save on insurance.

Courier insurance needs to protect you for the risks you face on the road, such as collisions, theft and fire. In addition to this you also need to think about the packages you’re transporting and protecting yourself from potential liability claims.
Before looking at the best ways you can save money on courier insurance, let’s look at the cover options available and the factors that impact on cost.

Types of courier insurance

Third party – Third party insurance is the minimum level of cover you need to be able to drive legally. It will cover other road users in the event that you are at fault for a collision. You can also add fire and theft to a third party policy for extra protection.

Comprehensive – A comprehensive policy will cover you for all types of collisions, even ones that you are liable for. It’s usually recommended when you can afford it.

Public liability – Public liability will protect you against liability claims from members of the public, should you injure or kill somewhere due to negligence.

Goods in transit – Goods in transit will protect the packages you’re carrying in your vehicle for theft and damage.

Breakdown assistance – Breakdown assistance is a must when you rely on your vehicle to make a living. If you already have it then it’s still worth finding out how much it would cost to have it included in your policy since you might be able to save money.

Factors that affect cost

Your age – Your age will certainly affect the price of your insurance. Drivers under the age of 25 are statistically more likely to be involved in a collision so if you’re in this age bracket then you can expect to pay more for a policy.

Your experience – Your driving experience will also impact the cost of courier insurance. The more experience you have on the roads, the less you can expect to pay.

Your vehicle – The value of your vehicle also has a big impact on cost. This is why it’s better to seek out a moderately priced vehicle if possible.

Make your vehicle secure – You should always make the effort to secure your vehicle by installing security devices such an alarm and tracking device. Taking these measures will help to lower the cost of your insurance significantly.

Pay annually – If you can afford to pay for your policy annually then you’ll be able to negotiate a lower rate with your insurance provider.

Get a lot of quotes – Getting quotes from different insurance providers makes it easy to pick out the policy that offers the best value for money.

It’s no secret that the cost of motor insurance is rising all the time. A huge contributing factor to this is the large number of insurance scams that take place on the roads each and every year. Usually known as “crash for cash” schemes – these types of scams are designed to make quick and easy money at the expense of another party’s insurance provider.

The way insurance providers respond to these scams is by raising the price of insurance. As unfair as this is, it’s the only way that insurers can respond to an ever-growing problem.

These types of insurance scams not only affective individuals but also countless businesses that rely on the use of vehicles. Fraudsters usually aren’t picky with which type of vehicles they target so the raising insurance rates are causing a big problem across the board.

Something that’s not always discussed however, is that often insurance scams are carried out by employees within the company. This is particularly troublesome for business owners and many are now taking steps in order to combat this problem.

Ways around the problem

Below are some ways that business owners are tackling the problem of rising insurance rates due to crash for cash schemes.

Fleet insurance – Getting a fleet policy doesn’t directly tackle the problem of insurance scams but it does provide a way for businesses with multiple vehicles to save money on insurance. Fleet policies are typically cheaper than insuring separately so it’s definitely worth looking into.

Background checks – A lot of companies are now carrying out extensive background checks on anyone who applies to work with them. This includes their insurance history and previous claims. This is one of the better ways to weed out any potential fraudsters.

Dash cams – There are also a growing number of businesses installing dash cams in their vehicles. Dash cams provide invaluable video evidence that can often prove who is at fault for a collision. An increasing number of insurance providers are now accepting dash cam footage in order to settle claims.

Getting fleet insurance at a competitive rate

If you do decide to get a fleet insurance policy for your business, then you’ll want to take any steps possible to keep the cost to a minimum. Below are some excellent ways to do this.

Make your company vehicles secure – Making your vehicles secure will go a long way to reducing the amount you’ll pay for a company fleet insurance policy. Installing alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices is always recommended.

Hire experienced drivers – One of the biggest factors that insurance providers take into account when calculating the cost of a policy is the age and driving history of any named drivers. For this reason, you want to make sure that any drivers you hire are experienced and have a clean licence.

Shop around – You should make sure that you get quotes from more than one insurance provider so you can compare them and pick the one that offers the best value for money.

When you need to order a taxi, whether it’s to get to the airport, or to get home after an evening out – you no longer need to stand on the street corner or even call the taxi firm.

There are now several apps on the market that make ordering a taxi extremely quick and convenient. While the market is still relatively young, there are already some fantastic taxi apps available to try out. Below are five of the best.

Uber is easily the most well-known and widely available taxi app on the market and is available in some 48 countries. It’s incredibly easy to use – you simply book a taxi through the app when you need one. There’s no pre-booking option but this isn’t what Uber advertises itself as.

Another thing that makes Uber extremely convenient is that it lets you know what the journey will cost beforehand and you simply through the app – meaning you don’t have to worry about having the right amount of cash to pay the driver.

Also if you happen to leave something in the taxi then you can also message the driver to let them know.

Gett is an app for booking black cabs that’s available in 32 cities across the world. It allows you to request a taxi and then track where it is in real time. Like Uber – Gett enables you to pay for your journey through the app itself.

Gett only works with TfL regulated black cabs and meets up with every driver that signs up for their service to provide training to ensure passenger safety.

You can get credit to use with the service by recommending it to friends. You get £10 credit for every friend recommended who uses the service. It’s currently available in several major UK cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Hailo

Hailo is another excellent option for booking taxis. It works in a very similar way to Uber in that you simply select a pickup location and driver and then the taxi is sent to you immediately.

There is the ability to track the route of your taxi when it’s on the way but you’ll be informed when it arrives by the app anyhow.

Hailo is available in selected cities in the UK and nationwide in Ireland and Singapore. It’s also available in Spain’s two busiest cities – Madrid and Barcelona.

CabWise

CabWise is somewhat different to the apps above in that it doesn’t allow to book taxis through the app. Instead it simply lets you know of the nearest licensed minicab office.

This might sound like quite a basic thing but it’s actually an extremely useful way to ensure that the minicab that you’re getting in is from a licensed office and the driver is licensed and insured.

Kabbee

Kabbee provides a very similar similar to CabWise except it comes with the bonus of sorting the local minicab offices based on criteria such as fare rates, ratings, types of vehicles and punctuality. This makes it an excellent way to save money and pick the right service when you’re in an area you’re not familiar with.

Kabbee is currently only available in London.

If you considering working as a driver you will need to ensure that the correct public hire or private hire insurance is taken out. When carrying passenger for reward, normal car insurance isnt suitable (thank you to multiquotetaxiinsurance.co.uk for info).

If you enjoy working with cars then you might be considering setting up your own business in the motor trade. The great thing about working in the motor trade is that there are a lot of different paths to choose. Some common businesses in the motor trade include –

These are just some of the businesses you could set up in the motor trade. In order to help you get started, below are some of the most important things to consider when setting up a new business.

Premises

Thinking about the type of premises you’ll need is extremely important. Some businesses will require much larger premises than others. For example, a car auction will typically need a very large plot of land, while you could set up a car showroom on much more modest premises.

When thinking about the premises, it’s not just size you need to consider though. Location is also extremely important. The location of your premises could have a big impact on how well your business performs. For businesses that rely on a good amount of foot traffic, such as showrooms and valeting services, you’ll want to find a place that has good visibility.

Another key decision to make where premises are concerned is whether you’re going to rent or buy. For most new starters in the motor trade, it’s much better to rent until you’re fully confident that you’re happy with the premises.

Staff

Staff is another key consideration when setting up a new business in the motor trade. Different types of businesses require different skills. Ideally you’ll be starting a business that you have personal experience in so you can easily identify and hire the right people.

Motor trade insurance

The minimum requirements for getting a motor trade insurance policy are as follows –

You must hold a full UK driver’s licence

You must be at least 21 years of age

You must be able to prove that you work in the motor trade

Types of cover you can get include –

Third party – A third party policy will provide enough protection so you and your staff can drive customer vehicles legally. It’s important to note that your vehicles wouldn’t be covered unless a third party was to blame for

the collision.

Third party, fire & theft – If want to add extra protection to a third party policy then this is a good option. If any of your vehicles are stolen or damaged by fire then you’d be compensated.

Comprehensive – Comprehensive insurance will provide the best level of protection and will cover customer vehicles for all types of collisions, even when you or your staff are liable for them.

Combined policy – A combined policy is an excellent choice when you work in the motor trade. It will not only provide full protection for customer and company vehicles but also cover your premises for theft and vandalism. Stock, tools and cash can

As an analyst of the economy and the property market, one must be patient to see if one’s predictions are right or wrong and to see what unfolds. One never knows if they’ll be wrong or right, but they must have a sense of humility about it that they’re not oblivious to the reality of the marketplace.

If possible, don’t move out until you have sold the house. Maybe someone in the family can stay behind or live there sometimes until the home is sold.

If you made this error fast call your agent and check through your Empty House Insurance. Subtract the cost in the land and you’ll find out that you will need far less coverage.

Discounts – A big property insurance company that covers vehicles and homes may offer discounts that are popular if you transfer them all your business. Some insurers will offer discounts for anti-theft or safety features also. You are going to desire to find the insurance company who’ll give you the greatest price for things you do, or that you could do. Many of the reductions that insurers offer are for things that are wise to do anyway. Insurance companies keep lots of data, and they consider these activities, like installing smoke detectors, helps cut claims and saves lives.

Become a revered source empowering them to get what they want. For example if your target market is convenience stores and your niche is http://www.propertytoinsure.co.uk what makes that alluring to a convenience store owner? For preventing catastrophic differences in coverage that puts owners out of business you desire to become the recognized expert. You’ve got expertise working with small business owners like them. Their requirements are known by you, and you understand what to search for to make sure they are neither over nor under assured.

A motive to contact the owner to see if they desire to sell or lease the property. look for vacant property insurance, as this is A vacancy is typically a landlord ‘pain’ factor that requires relief.

Do not mail a letter or a postcard if it lists the benefits of working with you, doesn’t have a powerful headline and offers people something free when they react.

Since the worth is what directly impacts your rates first to start this process, take time to value your house. What most people do is add the price of the property on which the building stands to the value of the building. Think about it, it has nothing to do with the worth of the building. land isn’t to be contemplated the in valuing your home,. With this simple subtraction, lots of cash has only been saved.

When you make a promise, stand behind that guarantee to the best of your ability. Go beyond and above what you assure any time you are able to and do everything possible to preserve your integrity.

It’s possible for you to use this strategy in your Contents claim. Your dwelling, condominium, apartment or business is full of personal property that you’ve bought over the years that (a) is obsolete or (b) you are not using anymore. A business could have office equipment that is not sold or outdated or inventory items. In each event, you have every right to be paid the correctly calculated ACV for those items. Then, you can use those dollars to offset the “holdback” sum when you are making your replacing purchases.

October 7, 2016 – Teknosell has secured a major contract with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania to expand training of their global salesforce in connection with the Next Generation Scania Truck Range, which was officially launched on Tuesday, August 23rd.

Teknosell is a professional coaching and training organisation, founded in Sweden, specializing in sales, customer service and product launch training programs using a newly developed method. With Scania having invested 20 billion SEK in the Next Generation Scania Truck Range, the biggest launch in the truck manufacturer’s 125-year history, Teknosell’s CEO Kristian Rosvall looks forward to expanding the cooperation.

“We have been coaching Scania’s sales force across the globe for the past year to prepare them for the big launch. By preparing every individual salesperson in this way, Scania is truly breaking new ground in how new products and services are launched to the global market. With the extension of the program that now becomes official, we will continue coaching Scania´s staff after the actual launch and expand the scope to cover 26 languages in 69 markets.”

Traditional product and sales training typically involves group and in-class sessions, which are costly and logistically challenging when it comes to large-scale businesses such as Scania. To overcome these challenges, Teknosell coaches staff using an innovative and unique training solution developed in close collaboration with Scania over the last several years.

“We knew that we had to employ an individual approach to bring up the skills of sales staff to a desired level and prepare them to sell something completely new. It was a challenge to design a training program that would reach out to each participant while being scalable on a global level. Today we are able to simultaneously train thousands of participants in different languages all over the world. We can do all this while giving individual feedback on a weekly basis, carefully pacing our programs and maintaining management commitment. This way we manage to gradually align staff training objectives with the company’s vision, in a very down-to-earth way.” said Kristian Rosvall.

”For a global enterprise, it is certainly a challenge to coordinate training to ensure that a large target group of employees receive uniform training. Teknosell accomplishes this through coaching our salesforce in local languages which is a prerequisite for results. Their method enables us to reach thousands of sales representatives around the world on a weekly basis and to measure results and progress on an individual level. This is something we value”, said Eric Ljunggren, Sales Development Manager at Scania.

The method has been validated through cooperation with Scania in a gradually increasing number of markets over several years, and feedback from markets has been encouraging. In Spain, one of the markets running the program for the longest time, 94% of surveyed sales managers were positive towards the program in an evaluation after completing 18 months.

“We believe that our method is simply a smarter way of training people in large corporations. For years I have seen that managers are fed up with one-off training events that do nothing to change every day behaviour of their staff. Scania saw the need of a more efficient way of training their sales and service organization, and I think our international cooperation with them is a great example of how our method can help global businesses achieve their goals.”

According to Rosvall, expansion and establishing a strategic position in the global market are two main objectives for Teknosell in the near future.

There are many great reasons to start your own business, especially given how difficult it can be to find regular employment nowadays. You get to make your own decisions and the success or failure of the business is completely down to you.

If you’re considering starting your own business then below are some of the most important things to consider before you take the plunge.

1. Are you passionate about the industry?

Whatever industry your business is in, it should be one that you’re passionate about. It’s very easy to underestimate the amount of work that’s required in order to get a new business off the ground and keep it going. If you’re planning to go into an industry you don’t know much about or don’t have much passion for then you might want to think carefully before going ahead.

2. Are you going to invest in a premises?

Getting a business premises, whether you’re planning to buy or rent, is a huge financial commitment. Because of this you should educate yourself on every aspect of the process, from the location and insurance to the pros and cons of renting vs buying.

3. Do you know what insurance you need?

One of the most important aspects of starting a new business is ensuring that you get the right level of cover. The level of insurance you’ll need will depend on the industry you’re operating in. If you’re running a coffee shop for example, then you’ll need cover for your building, cover for employee and public liability claims and cover for cash, stock and tools. If you’re running a business in the motor trade then you’ll need cover for your building as well as cover that allows you to work on and transport customer vehicles.

5. Where is your business going to be located?

Where your business is going to be located is vital and something you should put a lot of thought into. The location of a business can make or break it, especially for businesses that rely on a high volume of foot traffic. Generally businesses that are in built-up areas where a lot of people pass by are more successful but this is dependent on the industry you’re in. It’s always a good idea to get outside advice when making a decision as to the location of your business, particularly from other business owners in your industry.

Working in conjunction with Royds Withy King’s existing workflow and case management systems, Zylpha (www.zylpha.com) automates the transfer of case management information to the MoJ Portal for both RTA (Road Traffic Accident) and EL/PL (Employer’s and Public Liability) claims. This integration enables Royds Withy King to manage the processes involved more smoothly, with submission processing times reduced by over 80% when compared to previous paper based systems.

Royds Withy King

Sarah Williams, Visualfiles Developer at Royds Withy King agrees that the benefits of Zylpha’s MOJ are clear. She said: “By using Zylpha’s MOJ Portal integrations for both RTA and EL/PL, we have completely eliminated the hassle of submitting and managing claims.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to put the needs of our clients and our staff first. Zylpha is an excellent example of this investment in innovation, as our teams no longer have to spend hours on the portal re-keying data that is already contained in our Visualfiles case management system. This is extremely well thought of by our managers, staff and clients.

“From Zylpha’s own analysis we know that based on our number of claims to the MOJ Portal, we save a considerable amount of time a year. By reducing the administrative processes internally, we can focus more time on other areas of the business.”

Tim Long Zylpha’s CEO welcomed these comments adding,
“Whether the firm is dealing with businesses or private individuals, Royds Withy King creates and builds excellent relationships with its clients, based on mutual respect. Indeed, the practice never stops working to make service levels the best that they can be and innovation is an important element of this strategy. One area where technology has played such a role is reducing the time taken to make the MoJ Portal submission processes considerably more efficient.

“Naturally, we are delighted that Royds Withy King has chosen Zylpha’s Portal integration to achieve this and to hear that this has both benefitted Sarah’s team and helped to increase client focus too. We look forward to working closely with them and hopefully identifying other ways in which we can make a difference.”

Recent Freedom of Information figures seen by the ADLV (Association for Driving Licence Verification) www.adlv.co.uk, show a significant rise in the volume and frequency of online driving licence data checking by UK Fleets. The 2016 DVLA statistics show that there was a 30.4% increase in checks by online intermediaries compared to the same period last year. The ADLV expects this growth to continue throughout 2016 and well into 2017, with the total number of checks rising from the current level of 2.35 million to a projected 3 million by March 2017. The ADLV accredits the rise to more frequent online checking of data, coupled with a broader use of other related datasets to promote ‘know your driver’ risk reduction strategies.

As Richard Payne Gill Deputy Chair of the ADLV notes, “The growth in volume is highly encouraging as it reflects that electronic checking, through a fully managed service from a professional third party, has now become a ‘best practice’ with full reporting and audit trails included. It is also a sign that the frequency of checking has increased too as fleet managers seek to both boost compliance certainty and reduce the risk from misuse and fraud. We are seeing quarterly checks becoming the norm.

Richard Payne-Gill

“There has also been a rise in the breadth of data now that is now being combined with licence information, and we are also confident that other datasets are likely to become available too including Tacho and CPC data for the UK Haulier sector. The integration of all this data will see a transformation on the overall professionalism of the sector with the ultimate benefits including major efficiency gains for Fleet operators and a marked boost for road safety.”